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Today's News - September 25, 2006

ArcSpace (with great pix!) and the Guardian take us to Gehry's latest in Spain. -- Accessing SOM, the "King Kong of American architecture firms" and why it's such a tempting target. -- Ouroussoff finds disappointment in Rome (though some Ara Pacis details delight). -- A major makeover for Asia's largest slum: pseudo-New York Deco? -- Hail Cesar in Miami and Orange County. -- The Carnegie Hall of Paris restored. -- Nashville's new symphony hall "has deliberately turned its back on the last half-century of American architectural design." -- For Kamin, Olympic plans in Chicago require open minds for open spaces. -- Two years after Athens Olympics, some venues may face the wrecking ball. -- Plans for a new Seattle community are green and affordable. -- A new (and free) publication offers smart growth solutions. -- Saffron finds surprisingly worthy designs in two Philadelphia casino proposals. -- Denver museum offers a "twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity." -- Detroit celebrates 50 years of a Miesian urban oasis. -- Hawksmoor's Bloomsbury church comes out of the shadows. -- "Overlook" looks at everything from the quirky to the quotidian. -- Engineers get poetic at Georgia Tech.

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Newly opened: Gehry Partners: Hotel Marques de Riscal, Elciego, (Alava) Spain

Rioja in a designer glass: ...a look around Gehry's latest masterpiece, a wavy titanium-clad hotel on a 150-year old bodega...The contrast of the avant-garde building with the surrounding countryside is exhilarating.- Guardian (UK)

Building on tradition: It takes a certain chutzpah to argue that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is underrated...There are several reasons for this, not least of which is the fact that the King Kong of American architecture firms has always made a tempting target. By Kevin Nance- Chicago Sun-Times

An Oracle of Modernism in Ancient Rome: The opening of the Ara Pacis Museum should have been cause for celebration. That the building is a flop is therefore a major disappointment. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Richard Meier [images]- New York Times

How New York could see its reflections in Dharavi: Art Deco will be the architectural style of the rehabilitation buildings when the Rs 10,000-cr makeover of Asia’s largest slum takes off- Indian Express (Mumbai)

Inside Miami's new cultural palace: ...could signify a new way of thinking about arts centers — and solidify Miami's growing reputation as an international cultural hub. -- Pelli Clarke Pelli [slide show]- Palm Beach Post

Hail Cesar: With Plaza Tower, SCR, New Concert Hall, Pelli Rules Orange County Architecture- Orange County Business Journal (California)

Salle Pleyel, 'the Carnegie Hall of Paris,' Reopens with Restored Art Deco Glamor and Improved Acoustics -- François Ceria; Artec Consultants [images]- Playbill

Schermerhorn Symphony Center's design misses mark: Nashville Symphony has deliberately turned its back on the last half-century of American architectural design. By Kevin Nance -- David M. Schwarz- Chicago Sun-Times

It's how, not where: Olympic Stadium plans could either ruin or fulfill Olmsted's Chicago park vision ... Open spaces deserve open minds. By Blair Kamin -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill- Chicago Tribune

Looking for a Baseball Stadium in Athens? Two years after the 2004 Olympic Games, the Greek government is considering tearing down some venues to cut down on hefty maintenance costs. Most of the stadiums are now standing empty.- Der Spiegel (Germany)

High Point: Seattle's green community: ..."HOPE VI" project...a radical remake, with a mix of incomes and classes, of sites where large-scale public housing had degenerated into appalling concentrations of poverty and crime. By Neal Peirce -- Mithun- Seattle Times

"This Is Smart Growth": new [free] publication illustrates how communities can turn their visions, values, and aspirations into reality, using smart growth techniques to improve the quality of development.- Smart Growth Network

Surprisingly worthy winners: Pinnacle and TrumpStreet are no by-the-numbers design clones. They're real buildings that promise to add something to Philadelphia. By Inga Saffron -- Jerde Partnership; Bower Lewis Thrower; Worth Group- Philadelphia Inquirer

Playing all the angles: Art museum's twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Libeskind's Hamilton Wing may be a once-in-a-lifetime inspiration for Denver to build a livable, sustainable city. -- James Sudler/Gio Ponti (1971); Thom Mayne; Arata Isozaki- Denver Post

50th Anniversary of Lafayette Park: Urban oasis: Detroit development is a model of diversity and harmonious living...Among its many attributes, it features the largest collection of buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe in the world. By John Gallagher [images]- Detroit Free Press

Don't tell Dan Brown ... Known as the 'devil's architect', Hawksmoor was a mysterious freemason who loved pagan symbols. The restoration of his Bloomsbury church clears away the shadows. By Steve Rose- Guardian (UK)

Take Nature, Add Humans, Observe Results: A bunch of witnesses keep track of sites that range from the quirky to the quotidien: "Overlook" -- Center for Land Use Interpretation- New York Times

Making poetry safe for engineers: Say it slowly, rhythmically, without irony. Poetry at Georgia Tech.- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

New Frontiers in Science and Design: ASU Biodesign Institute by Gould Evans and Lord, Aeck & Sargent (images)- ArchNewsNow

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